Evelyn Austen and the Hunters of Artemis: The Winter Blade
by Captide
Summary: Evelyn feared the Cold. Not the normal chills you would get on a snowy day, she feared the predatory monster, the one that bit at your fingers and froze your lungs, the one that showed no mercy. Evelyn hated the Cold. It made you shiver, made you weak, made you powerless. It killed without a second thought. It killed Evelyn's brother. Evelyn tried to defeat the Cold.
1. The Cold

I bolt upright in my bed, sweat running down my forehead. I was cold, unnaturally cold. I remembered few things from my dream, ebony hair, falling snow, and a ripped flannel. I could barely breathe, I knew that the dream was a nightmare, I could tell by the cold bead of sweat on my brow. I had been running from something, I didn't know what.

I got up, wincing as my cold feet hit the even colder hardwood floor. My numb feet carried me to the bathroom as I shivered. I flipped the lights on and turned the handle on the sink faucet. Warm water splashed onto my face and the front of my white-blonde hair. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Pale skin, dark eyes, and a splatter of freckles across my nose. I wasn't very fond of my appearance, though I didn't care what others thought of me, I felt jealous of how so many other girls could look perfect so effortlessly, whilst I had huge dark circles and acne.

As I was turning to switch the lights off, I managed to check the time. 2:34 A.M. I groaned as I went back into my room and fell onto the bed. I lay there for a while, it could've been hours or minutes, I couldn't tell. I knew I had school in the morning, but I just couldn't sleep, something pulled in my stomach, urging me to stay awake. I stared out the window onto the dark and damp street. Empty, as per usual.

A flash of silver came into view at the end of the road and I saw people, girls, to be exact. All wore parkas and dark pants, some had scarves hastily slung around their necks. I noticed one girl with jet black hair and assumed she was their leader, as she stood in the front of the group. I counted in my head, something my mother had taught me to do when I felt like I was in danger. If I got down to one and was still scared, I ran.

10\. 9. The girls started approaching and I noted silver bows and quivers attached to their backs. 8. 7. I slipped my shoes on as the group neared the house. 6. They started walking towards the front door. 5. I was afraid, why were they here? 4. I prepared to run and hide as the dark haired girl stepped onto my porch and took a look inside the windows. 3. I ran to my closet, the closest door to me, and grabbed the handle, not checking out the window again. 2. I heard tapping on glass and turned around cautiously. I didn't make it to one.

The dark-haired girl stood on the roof outside, her hand pressed against the window. _This can't be happening,_ I thought as I grabbed the closest item, a hairbrush, and wielded it. The girl on the roof cracked the window open with a grin and stepped inside. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out because the girl was already covering my mouth.

" _Don't_ scream!" She whispered harshly "My name is Thalia and I'm here to recruit you for the Hunters of Artemis."


	2. The Goddess

I was confused. The girl, Thalia, told me to get dressed in something warm and meet her outside, before she went back out the window and waited. I ran into the closet and haphazardly put on some dark skinny jeans and a white sweater. I slid off the Vans I had on my feet and put on some combat boots instead, as it was the middle of winter and there was snow everywhere.

What am I doing? I thought, shaking my head, These people could be serial killers. There was a knocking on my window and Thalia tapped on her watch. Rushing, I grabbed my phone and slid it into my pocket, before climbing out the window.

It was freezing outside, I could already feel my lips turning blue and my cheeks turning rosy. My fingers ached in the cold, I had forgotten to put on gloves. Thalia helped me down from the low roof, she was strong for such a small girl.

I came to stand in the middle of a circle of girls, all staring at me. "What's going on? Do I know you people?" I questioned and there was a bit of whispering and muttering from a few girls.

"It'd be best if we sat you down for this, come to our campsite, it's only a few hundred feet from here. I nodded, scared.

They asked me questions as they walked.

"What's your name?"

"Evelyn, or Eve, or Evie."

"How old are you, Evelyn?"

"Fourteen."

Thalia looked amused at how confused I was. Thalia, I decided, I liked very much, she seemed like an older sister to all of these girls, they were comfortable around her but also respected her as authority. As we walked, I noticed a silver circlet in Thalia's hair, one that no other girl shared, that had to mean something.

I shivered, the cold seeping through my sweater. "Here," Thalia pulled a silvery parka out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to me.

I thanked her and slipped the jacket on, the extra separation between me and the chilly air was comforting.

As we approached a wooded area, I spotted orange light, like the light of a fire.

I wondered how my parents would react when they found me missing. They had already lost my twin brother, Everett, they would be heartbroken if I was gone. I felt a pang of suppressed guilt.

"My lady," Thalia greeted someone. I hadn't noticed that we had reached the camp. Silver tents were set up surrounding a large fire pit. Three girls sat by the flames, one a younger girl of about twelve with auburn hair, one who looked about my age with light brown hair, and another, a girl who looked ten years old with blonde curls.

The girl Thalia was addressing, the auburn-haired one, spoke. "Hello, huntresses," She bowed her head and turned to me "What is your name?"

"E-Evelyn Austen," I didn't know why, but this girl made me uneasy.

"Hello Evelyn, please have a seat."

I hesitantly sat on a sleeping bag that was rolled out over the snow.

"I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt," The girl explained.

No way, I thought, This tiny girl couldn't be a goddess, gods weren't even real, were they?

"You're what?" I remembered something Thalia had said earlier about the Hunters of Artemis, but I had just brushed it off as nothing.

"Olympian gods are real, all of the stories about Greek Mythology are real," Artemis explained, "I travel with my group of maidens, the huntresses, keeping peace," She said "We're low in population, it's just the fifteen of us, and we were hoping you would join us," Artemis folded her hands in her lap,"Thalia, if you would explain further."

Thalia sat down next to me and stared at the fire "Firstly, you would be immortal, you could only die if in battle or if you broke your oath."

"What oath—?"

"Don't interrupt," She snapped "The oath swearing off men, to remain an eternal maiden." Thalia relaxed "It is dangerous, but the payoff is great."

A thousand thoughts went through my head at once. This was so sudden, and it was a lot to process. Swearing off men forever? I hadn't really been much of a person for dating, and I didn't really develop crushes, so that part would be easy. But the immortality. Sure, it would be nice to live forever, but dying in battle? I was not very strong, I knew that if it came to battle, I would be the first to die.

"I—erm, I need a while to think about it," I said and Artemis smiled warmly.

"Take your time, we should be here for about twenty more hours, if you choose to join us, just return here, we will be waiting," Artemis helped me up and led me to a tall dark skinned girl "Eliza, please escort the lovely Miss Austen back to her home."

Eliza nodded and started to walk off, her long legs carrying her much faster than I could walk.

"Hey wait up!" I called, running after the girl who was already a few yards ahead.

"Hurry, better we get you back as soon as possible," Eliza said, not even turning around. She didn't watch where she was stepping, it was like she knew this place.

We went back to my house in silence, the height of the other girl intimidated me, I was only 5' 4".

We approached the small townhouse, my house. It was quiet in my neighborhood, eerily so. Eliza helped me up onto the roof, almost slipping on the icy grass.

I got one last look at the girl before she darted off towards the woods. I climbed into my window and saw the same room that I left, a hairbrush on my floor in the exact place I dropped it. My parents hadn't known that I was gone. I checked the clock, 3:12 A.M., and groaned as I slid off my shoes and climbed back into bed. I closed her eyes and sleep found me immediately.


End file.
